Words
(Introduction has no dialogue)
Editing. The ‘invisible art form’. The
manipulation of footage. The construction of
great movie making. Editing is what ties all the
loose ends of a film together. Insignificant shots
are placed together to create movie magic. The
film will all of sudden gain meaning and
emotion. Love, grief, happiness and horror. A
film isn’t complete unless it has been edited.
Film Editing is a developing medium that has
been around for over one hundred years. In
comparison to other entertainment mediums
for example theatre and books, editing is very
new. However, this isn’t to say it hasn’t got a
rich history. In fact, it’s constantly changing and
developing as new techniques and films are
being created.
The first discovery of editing came from
Eadward Muybridge in 1878, when he
developed a series of pictures of a horse
galloping. The images placed together
resembled a horse moving. From this,
filmmakers could see that assembling different
shots together made the overall impact of a
sequence better. Boom! Just like that editing
was born.
However, this isn’t to say that evidence of
editing hasn’t been seen throughout history.
Precursors of editing have been seen in
flashbacks within novels as well as scene
changes within plays. In the late 1890s
inventor, Thomas Edison, invented the first
form of camera, the Kinetograph, which
showed moving pictures. This was the first time
ever films could be made and viewed, this was
the early stages of filmmaking.
Shortly after this, in 1894 the Lumiere Brothers
created their own camera by taking inspiration
from Edison, this camera was called the
Cinématographe and it used less film and it was
lighter in weight then Edison’s. Editing became
Visuals
- First shot is of someone walking past the
camera showing their feet.
- Next shot is Hitchcock speaking on the TV
- Rewind of shots from the past to
present in a fast-paced sequence
- Shots of people editing. The clips will show
different parts in time, for example cutting
film reel and digital editing.
- Shot from aerial height of different shots
being assembled and placed.
- Their will be a quick clip of Walter Murch
discussing editing.
- TV static shot placed amongst shots of
films. Almost as if you were changing
channels.
- Shot from the Macbeth ‘dagger speech’
when speaking about theatre.
- Shot from the book thief, library scene
- Montage of clips from modern films as well
as early films for example the horse
galloping
- Photo of Eadward Muybridge zooming in.
- Photos of all the image of the horse
galloping.
- Footage of the clips edited together in
showing horse galloping.
- Shows clip of Charlie Chaplin shaking hand
with colleagues.
- Animation of rolled up paper with ‘boom’
on it.
- Footage of editor from ‘Life of Pi’ editing
- Shot from ‘The never-ending story’ when
boy gets the book.
- Shot of a scene changes within a play.
- Thomas Edison next to a light bulb
- Shows pictures of Edison with the
Kinetograph, zooming in.
- Clip from advertisement of the
Kinetograph.
- Old photo of the Lumiere Brother, being
zoomed in.
- Footage of the Lumiere brothers setting up
the Cinématographe for filming.
more and more apparent within the process of
making films, filmmakers discovered that
editing shots into a sequence added to the
audience sense of the story and thus meant
more complex stories could be shown to the
audience. Filmmaking could now be used for
purpose and emotion.
Editing pioneer Edwin Porter, changed editing
history in his 1903 film ‘Life of an American
fireman’ by ‘cutting’ shots and using ‘jump cuts’
between two different scenes. This provoked
an emotional response from the audience as
they became invested in the story and wanted
the fireman to save the woman and her child
from the burning building.
In the early stages of editing, the editing was
done as the film was being shot. The
cameraman would crank the handle of the
camera to allow the film to roll and when they
wanted the shot to end they would stop
cranking the camera. Then to start a new shot
they would continue to crank the camera again.
This process introduced filmmakers such as
George Melies who specialised in creating
special effects. Melies was famous for the
effects he used within his films, usually done
with a one camera set up and no dialogue, the
audience’s eye was drawn to his work. Melies’
1896 film ‘The Vanishing Lady’ is a great
example of this as the camera stops filming
when the women is under the blanket and then
continues when she is gone.
However, editing by cranking the camera
became less efficient when multiple camera set
ups were being used. Editing was now done by
cutting up film strips using razors and gluing
them back together in the right order. The
editors could now decide in what order the
different shots would go in and how long they
would be. Editors at this time were mostly
female, and it required a large amount of
people to make copies as there was no digital
production. This job was very tedious and very
intricate for your hands. This meant when the
chief editor and director decided where to cut a
sequence people were then employed to cut
the film reel up until it matched what the
director wanted. This would then be checked
- Shot of the motion picture ‘Arrival of a
train’ when the train comes into the
station.
- This will then cut to the motion picture
‘Hugo’ where it shows the audiences
reaction to the motion picture ‘Arrival of a
train’. This will show the fear and emotion
from the audience.
- Photo of Edwin Porter being zoomed in.
- Shots from ‘Life of an American fireman’
where the lady is taken out of the building.
- Shows footage of people at the cinema
clapping and laughing. Reaction of people.
- Shot of ‘Life of an American fireman’ as the
women is carried out via the ladder from
the burning building.
- Old photo of cameramen cranking the
cameras
- Shot from ‘Hugo’ where the cameramen
are cranking the camera handles.
- Then a YouTube clip of a guy explaining
these cameras.
- Then another shot from ‘Hugo’ with the
camera being cranked by the cameraman.
- Old picture of George Melies, the shot is
zoomed into the camera.
- Shot of Melies film ‘A trip to the moon’
when the mushroom grows.
- Shot from Melies film ‘The four
troublesome heads’ when they are
throwing heads arounds.
- Shot of Melies film ‘The Vanishing Lady’,
when the lady disappears for the first time.
- Old photo on set with the cameraman. The
photo zooms in.
- Shot of man looking at film reel and
checking it over.
- Shot from a tutorial of YouTube of
somebody checking over a strip of film reel
and using their scissors cutting it up and
then gluing it back together.
- Old photos of different female editors, in
the early stages of filmmaking, editing. The
photos are put on one after the other.
- Followed by another photo of a female
editor, the shot will zoom in as it plays out.
- Shot of Alfred Hitchcock discussing with a
man, for some form of interview.
- Old video of women editing footage
together, taken from the film ‘A man with a
movie camera’.
over via a projector to see the accuracy of the
editing and if there was continuity within the
edit.
At this time editors were under-valued and
weren’t credited for their work within films.
This is completely different from the
relationships between the directors and editors
in the modern film industry, for example
Francis Ford Coppola and Walter Murch.
However, this was pre-first world war when the
country social situation meant that men were
superior to women, meaning women got the
‘under appreciated job’. However, this all
changed in 1929 when Russian filmmaker Dzifa
Vertov created the film ‘A man with a movie
camera’ which highlighted the importance of a
film editor.
Editing became more creative and meaningful
in 1897 when editor D.W. Griffith used
revolutionary editing techniques within his
films. Titled ‘the father of film’, whilst Griffith
didn’t actually invent any of the techniques he
used, he was nevertheless instrumental in
leading the way for inspiring filmmakers to
engage in more creative editing. He showed
them what was in store for the future and how
narrative structure and emotion could be
achieved simply by the formatting and editing
they used.
After a failed acting career in 1897 Griffith
joined the Edison Company. From there he
went onto direct over 450 films which were
experimenting with story-telling techniques,
this would later lead on to his most famous film
‘Birth of a Nation’. Even though the content
within the film was seen as highly racist, the
film was one of the first US blockbusters and
was critically acclaimed for its innovative
narrative structure. The techniques in which
Griffith refined were parallel editing, the soviet
montage and classical cutting. In addition to
this Griffith used close ups to showcase
emotion from his characters.
In early 1910 the soviet filmmaker Lev Kuleshov
wanted to illustrate the importance of film
editing. To show this he created ‘The Kuleshov
effect’. Kuleshov made an example video of the
- Shot of an old fashion movie cinema with a
projector showing films.
- Shot of someone editing in an editing booth
using a Steinbeck or Moviola to edit.
- Shot of Thelma Schoonmaker and Martin
Scorsese discussing the editing within their
film as they sit in an editing booth.
- Shots of Walter Murch and Francis Ford
Coppola discussing the editing within their
films.
- Shot from pre-first world war where the
suffragette march through the streets of
London.
- Old photo of filmmaker Dziga Vertov. The
photo zooms in.
- Shot from ‘A man with a Movie Camera’ the
scene where the lady is editing.
- Shot of D.W. Griffith in an interview
smoking a cigarette.
- Shots from D.W. Griffith’s films, for
example the first film is ‘An Unseen
Enemy’.
-
- Shot from D.W. Griffith’s film ‘Orphan of
the Storm’.
- Old photo of D.W. Griffith and Charlie
Chaplin. The photo zooms in.
- Old photo of a newspaper clipping for the
‘Edison Company’
- Old footage from D.W. Griffith’s films.
- Shots of D.W. Griffith’s film ‘A Birth of a
Nation’ with the KKK on their horses
- Old photos of the film being marketed, for
example posters saying, ‘The Greatest
Picture of all time’.
- More shot from ‘The Birth of a Nation’
when the soldiers are fighting.
- Shots from ‘Orphan of the Storm’ where
the camera does close up on the
characters.
- Old photo of filmmaker Lev Kuleshov. The
photo slowly zooms into him.
- Video where Hitchcock explains the
Kuleshov effect by showing him looking at a
baby etc..
effect, in the video it shows a man looking at
three different things: food, a coffin and a
woman. Even though the shot of the man is
the same shot every time. We see a difference
in the man’s emotions due to how we are
linking him to the shot followed. We see an
emotional and character change. When the
man is looking at the food, he appears hungry,
yet when looking at the coffin he’s full of
sorrow and finally when looking at the women
he is filled with desire. By simply changing the
shots around we get three completely different
emotions from the same shot of the man.
Kuleshov did this to highlight the significance of
editing and how a simple change of a shot can
change the mood of the film.
Up until this point editing was achieved by
cutting and gluing film together. However, in
1920 a form of technology was created in which
allowed the editors to watch the films as they
edited, thus making their jobs easier. This form
of equipment was called ‘Moviola’ and due to
its efficiency, it made editing more accurate
and less time consuming for those editing the
footage together.
Hitchcock, I am sure you have heard of that
name before. ‘The master of Suspense’.
Hitchcock without a doubt is the most
influential filmmaker of his time, he has single
handily shaped the industry through his craft.
Hitchcock has brought a new knowledge and
understanding of montage editing and the
construction of films. ‘The Hitchcock Montage’
was first established after Hitchcock’s famous
shower scene in his critically acclaimed film
‘Psycho’. The scene had 78 camera setups and
52 cuts within the montage which took a total
of 7 days out of the 30-day filming schedule to
capture. The montage is a series of short
duration shots all edited in a fast pace gripping
sequence. We have seen ‘the Hitchcock
montage’ time and time again throughout film
editing history and without it films wouldn’t be
filled with as much suspense and anticipation.
From the old to the new, editing has changed
abruptly. In the 1990s digital editing was born,
this was due to software being created for
example Avid. This meant that old school
- Shot of the actual example of the Kuleshov
effect. Where the man looks at three
different things: food, a coffin and a
woman.
- Then put in my own example of the
Kuleshov effect. This is the example I
created basically the same thing happening
but just different circumstance.
- Shots from the film ‘A man with a Movie
Camera’ the scene where the woman is
editing.
- Footage of the editing machine ‘Moviola’
and people using it.
- A shot of someone putting the film reel into
the Moviola machine and then actually
watching the footage, via a screen on the
machine. This basically shows how people
could watch the production as they edited.
- Shot from the Hitchcock film ‘The Birds’ as
the women is in her car beeping her horn
to get the birds to go away.
- Then a quick montage of the title pages for
four of Hitchcock’s films e.g. the 39 steps.
- Shot of Hitchcock with an interview
discussing things.
- Shots from Hitchcock’s film ‘Psycho’
specifically the shower scene as this shows
the Hitchcock montage.
- Shots of Hitchcock on set directing a
murder/choking scene within one of his
films. He is sat on a chair telling the actors
exactly what to do.
- Shots of the Hitchcock montage in other
films, for example Raging Bull, A man with a
movie camera and Hot Fuzz.
- Shots of the Eadward Muybridge horse
galloping, then ‘Hugo’ scene of cutting the
film strips up, then the Moviola and
followed by digital editing. This footage
techniques soon became less common within
mainstream editing. This is due to the digital
editing being quicker, easier and cheaper.
However, there are still filmmakers who edit
using more traditional methods for example
Christopher Nolan who has edited films such as
Dunkirk and Inception.
In 1995 the first Oscar was given for editing on
the Avid System, the film was the ‘The English
Patient’. This was the end of an era for
traditional methods.
From there new films have been produced, for
example the 2017 Edgar Wright film ‘Baby
Driver’. Baby Driver in which is edited by Paul
Machliss and Jonathan Amos, has brought on a
whole new wave of editing. This style of editing
is all about cutting to the action and to the beat
of the film. Baby driver editors were even on
set editing whilst the film was being filmed, the
edit of the film is already pre-planned, so the
footage needs to be perfect for the edit. This is
completely different to editing in the past,
when editing was just a second thought.
From researching into film editing I have
discovered the importance of past editors and
techniques which have been used. In the last
one hundred years editing has progressed
rapidly and changed a lot, this has me
wondering what is installed for the future. I
understand now we must appreciate the
standard of modern films and be thankful for
the journey editing has taken us on.
shows a man explains the software which is
used on the computer.
- Shots of the ‘Avid’ advert from 2004 on
YouTube.
- Shot of Christopher Nolan on set directing
the cast and crew.
- Shots from the films of Dunkirk and
Inception.
- Shows the Oscars and someone walking out
to present an award.
- Clip from the film ‘The English Patient’ the
scene is the dancing scene.
- Montage of shots from films. The first shot
is from Whiplash, then The Fault in our
Stars and Unbroken.
- Shot from the opening sequence of Baby
Driver.
- Footage of editors of baby driver.
- Shot from Baby Driver in the opening
where there is loads of quick cuts to the
song ‘Bell bottom’.
- Photos of the editor on set editing. The
shots zoom in as they are played out.
- Shots of editors in the past editing. For
example, cutting the film reel and using the
Moviola machine.
- B-roll footage of me editing on my laptop.
- Shots of Francis Ford Coppola and Walter
Murch.
- Shot of the Lumiere Brothers setting up
their camera and putting the film within it.
- Quick montage of modern films for
example: Dunkirk, War Horse, Whiplash,
Apocalypse Now and Baby Driver.
- The Documentary ends with a shot of me
turning of the TV.